Bermudian triathlete Flora Duffy won the Superior Morgul Classic criterium Women's race, clocking a time of 38:42, followed by 2012 crit winner Cari Higgins, who finished in 39:08.
Duffy, who's competed in two Olympics for triathlon, won the omnium last year. She graduated from the University of Colorado last week, and said spring allergies had been bothering her this week leading up to the race, so her expectations were low.
The pro 1-2 racers took off 30 seconds before the cat 3 Women, so by the end of the 50 minutes, the two groups were mixed. Duffy said she was able to pull ahead and put the cat 3 pack between her and the pros.
"I kind of secretly got out in front and no one noticed," Duffy said.
Second-place finish Cari Higgins noticed, she said, but it was too late. Because Duffy didn't participate in Friday's time trial, Higgins said she wasn't concerned about Duffy in the omnium. Higgins' teammate Heather Fischer followed in third place with a time of 39:08.
"It's a really hard course, it's one my favorites because it's so hard," Higgins said. "We let Duffy go off the front because we know she's not an overall threat. It was awesome working with juniors and development riders to organize the race and the lead out there at the end."
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